al qaeda plotting within its borders, yemen returns to a bloody mess. i'm christine romans. who won? who lost? who surprised? gop candidates square off in florida to try to stop it from becoming a two-man race -- on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. >> good morning. >> we haven't spent much time together this morning. it's friday. friday, september 23rd. welcome to "american morning." friday's always a good day. ali and carol have the morning off. >> first, markets buckling and 401(k)s crumbling. fears of another meltdown spurring a frenzy. another brutal day for the dow. two brutal days in a row for a dow. the worst two days since 2008. live from london, at least stock futures this morning are stable.

it's not showing an extension of all of that terrible selling in the last couple of days. what's happening? >> for the moment, it's not, christine. the europe peern markets an mar minutes ago. the markets you said in your introduction showed asian markets losing quite a bit overnight. some of those markets hitting lows we hadn't seen, in fact, since last year or even the year before that. nikkei should point out end of the day up to the tune of about a quarter of 1%. the stock market, same here in europe. losses earlier on to today's session. firmly in the green for the moment. we'll, of course, have to see how the united states' market bets trading, sort of dictate the trend heading towards the end of the week, christine. one of the reasons everybody's so worried or perhaps elated, on a positive note, we had the 23

the g-20 meeting. economists saying there seems to be a growing debt between what economists and the market says it should be and what politicians can realisticy deliver. the negative news, imf downgraded earlier on in the week and the fed warned of downside risks to the u.s. economy. what we have to look forward to going into the weekend. >> worrying about the banking sector and how slowly the world economy is growing, and all of these thing, nothing to turn that around quite net. nina, thank you so much. ali abdullah saleh returned. he spent nearly three months in saudi arabia after being badly injured in an attack on his palace. his capital city gripped and fighting in shelling the past week that reportedly left dozens more dead over frustration that he won't step down. mohammed jamjoom has more from oman. good morning to you.

>> reporter: good morning, alina, and we're seeing live pictures now on yemeni state television of tens of thousands of saleh supporters in central sanaa. reports that are tanks rolling through the streets and celebratory gunfire. members of different army factions shooting into the air celebrating the news of the arrival of president ali abdullah saleh and word from activists and politicians over there they are dismayed and extremely worried at what this means. many activists telling me they didn't think saleh would return. concerns he might try to install his son in power. yemen is a country, hundreds of thousands of yemenis throughout the country day after day pours out into the streets of various city, even when their lives have been in danger and they've come under fire from government forces and other army units.

basically sending out the message they want that president gone. once he left the country to recuperate in saudi arabia after an assassination attempt, many thought he would not return. the news he returned today comes as a shock, to. even in government officials. especially the protesters saying it's a very tense situation. if i can remind viewers, in the past week even though there was a u.n. and gcc envoy in the capital to try to iron out a power transfer deal, dozens were killed in clashes that happened in several city. hundreds wounded. a chaotic scene in yemen and people say it's very tense and could get more tense as the day progresses. alina? >> mohammed jamjoom live with the update. mohammed, thank you. they were taking swipes at the president. going back and forth at each other and about going back and forth on the issues. another testy gop debate last night. jim acosta has the highlights. >> governor perry --

>> it may have felt like that to rick perry, but to the texas governor, almost a game of one against eight. >> an argument i just can't follow. >> reporter: on the perry-backed texas law that offers in-state tuition 20 the children of illegal immigrants. >> that doesn't make sense to me, and that kind of mall knit -- magnet -- that kind of magnet draws people into this country. >> reporter: rick santorum with the overhead smash. >> why should they be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country? that's what they're saying. so, yes, i would say -- i would say that -- i would say that he is soft on illegal immigration. >> i don't think you have a heart. >> reporter: the gop front-runners defense of the law drew cheers but also boos from the crowd. >> this was a state issue. texans voted on it and i still support it greatly. >> senator santorum --

>> reporter: with the debate staged in florida where senior votes are on the line, romney once again pounded on perry's past statements on social security. >> there's a rick perry that, almost a quote, it says that, that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business, that it's unkogs stooshl. unconstitutional and should be returned to the states. you better find that rick perry and get him to stop saying that. >> reporter: at moments it seemed the punishment was taking its toll. perry seemed to get lost delivering one zinger on the health care law passed in massachusetts. >> americans just don't know sometimes which mitt romney they're dealing with. he's for obamacare and now he's against it. >> reporter: except that romney has never supported the president's health care law. >> nice try. >> reporter: also standout moments for members trying to break through on foreign policy, former ambassador jon huntsman. >> only pakistan can save

pakistan. only afghanistan can save afghanistan. all that i want right now at this point in history is for america to save america. >> reporter: and on the economy, probably the line of the night from former new mexico governor gary johnson. >> my next door neighbor's two dogs created more jobs than this shovel -- >> reporter: it came from a handful from the audience who booed a gay soldier. >> you intend to circumvent the progress made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military. >> reporter: for a race that's come dune to rick perry versus mitt romney, it's unclear whether anything changed at last night's debate. florida republicans will have their say as a non-binding straw poll set for this weekend. jim acosta, cnn, orlando. palestinian president

mahmoud abbas will stand before the general assembly and ask the world to accept the palestinians as member. here's the problem. he knows full well he'll be rejected. >> right. his support for statehood is slowly eroding thanks to heavy lobbying by the united states. richard roth is with us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the palestinians have been lobbying the nations on the security council. they need nine yes votes to be accepted in a security council resolution, but the u.s. has a veto that's potentially waiting. now, the battle is just beginning, because mr. abbas knows full well that all of that is taking place. some say he's doing this for his legacy. some say, as they say, they're not bluffing and could always go to the general assembly and get this non-observer state status. u.s. ambassador to the u.n. -- >> we've made very plain if it

were to come to it and if it were necessary, the united states would exercise its veto. >> reporter: the palestinian leader is expected to deliver his formal application to u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon before the late morning, early afternoon address and the security council, susan rice, yesterday said could meet to start discussions next week, but there's a whole process that will take. mr. president abbas may come back. the idea is to guest the two sides talking. the so-called quartet, all the key players will try to come up with an immediate plan, start border discussion proposals, all with the destination of a state. >> a lot of fireworks yesterday with iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad. >> surprise, surprise. >> exactly. no surprise what he said, but i guess to a lot of people in the room, it was a little too much. right? >> reporter: and we've seen this show on 42nd street before, but the remarks get worse and worse. the iranian leader questioning who was behind 9/11, what did it

lead to. why are holocaust payments made. questioning everything. even tougher than other years. it really was more direct. no mention of the iranian nuclear program, which is what the u.n. member countries are concerned about. empty chairs in the hall. the u.s., france, austria walking out. canada and israel weren't even there. everyone -- those diplomats know the plan. it's like going to a show and know, if this is bad and these lines are said in the dialogue, we're out of here. this is what the british prime minister said. interesting quick moment as he exited the u.n. when asked about the speech. >> mr. cameron -- president ahmadinejad's speech today, sir? >> dreadful. >> reporter: dreadful one the one-word answer bud also denounced ahmadinejad in the speech from the roster. other problem, iran's nuclear program, it's intentions. iran is also not going to recognize israel, it says, even

if a palestinian state is declared in a two-state decision. >> calling 9/11 a mysterious incident, takes a lot of -- >> reporter: exactly. right in new york city. tensions arising between the u.s. and pakistan. yesterday testimony from admiral mike mullen the outgoing chairman of the joint chiefs triggering an angry response from islamabad. insisting the top spy agency, the isi, had close ties to the network a violent faction of the taliban. listen to what he told the senate. >> the network for one acts as a veritable arm of pakistan's internal services intelligence agency. with isi support, the operatives conducted that truck bomb attack as well as the assault on our embassy. we also have credible intelligence that they were behind the june 28th attack on the intercontinental hotel in kabul and a host of other

smaller but effective operations. >> reporter: pakistan the foreign minister responded to admiral mullen's allegations and warned the white house it's in jeopardy of losing an ally. the united states is facing a real possibility of a partial government shutdown in seven days. we have heard this before, we should tell you. the republican-controlled house passing a $3.7 billion disaster aid measure late last night along with a stop gap spending bill that would keep the government from shutting down. calling for millions of cuts to offset the hurricane and wildfire victims, but senate majority leader harry reid already promised to reject it saying it's not an honest attempt as it a compromise. and president obama, said to give states the green light to opt out of no child left behind. the plan would relieve school districts from stiff penalties for failing to meet targets aimed at making all students proficient in reading and math by the year 2014.

in exchange, states agree to reforms favored by the government including linking teacher evaluations to test scores. expect a lot of hearings into the collapse of sow llyndr. they plan to plead the fifth and refuse to answer questions. the solar company went bankrupt after receiving a controversial billion dollar guaranteed loan from the energy department. coming up on "american morning," an alarming discovery in libya. what some soldiers found locked in a warehouse. plus -- former president bill clinton, and the mystery of nasa's missing moon rock. and look out below. they're tracking that satellite. expecting to fall to earth sometime today. it's 14 minutes after the hour. be back after this. [♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion

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were back. it's 17 minutes after the hour. new developments this morning out of libya. the national transitional council says its forces turned up what appears to be radioactive material at a military base near sava in southern libya. the site has warehouses containing bears and plastic bags and powder marked radioactive. nuclear experts believe moammar gadhafi was stockpiling yellowcake a form of uranium that can be used for nuclear purposes. and former president bill clinton offering up his plan for fixing the economy in a new book called "back to work." coming out in the november. a guide to the financial crisis. he wrote the book out of concern for america's future. >> he's good at writing books. guess what they found in an arkansas library stuck in a book from bill clinton's years at

governor. apparently a priceless piece of moon rock missing for 30 years. didn't know they were looking for it. according to nasa, it's one of 50 so-called goodwill moon rocks presented as gifts to each state. now the rock's in a library safe, but officials say maybe we should move it to a museum. today's the day chunks of falling satellite are expected to come crashing back to earth. nasa scientists can't pinpoint where or when, but believe it's going to happen sometime this afternoon. the good news, they don't think north america's going get hit. they say 26 chunks of the satellite will probably survive re-entry ranging from a few pounds to several hundred with a debris field spread over 500 mimes. you know, what, 70% of the earth's surface is water. a pretty good chance it's just going to splash down. >> then there's murphy' law. >> rob marciano at the extreme weather service for us. good morning. >> nasa giving 3,200-1 odds of

actually hitting somebody. >> i'd buy a lottery ticket for those odds. i would. >> i don't know if there's a vegas bookie willing to take that bet, but, why not? this is the actual track of the satellite. wide -- widen out, widen out and show the map. there we go. all right. back through the satellite tracking device. here's where it is live. there you go. there's africa, madagascar, antarctica. streaming around the earth. moving pretty fast. as we mentioned, expected to come back to land sometime probably late afternoon or this evening sometime, and nasa, an update, they really don't know when. haven't narrowed down. once it starts tumbling through the atmosphere, we lose track. ophelia, increasing in

intensity. we knew. strong head winds to deal with and heading towards the u.s. probably as a weak storm of some sort and then peel off, because we got a pretty strong front creating rain across the deep south, across the mid-atlantic and up through the northeast, and this will be filling in across the northeast. right now, not a lot of rain. some moving into d.c. and into baltimore and philly and this will create some flooding issues, i think, as we go through the weekend. so heavier rain is expected from d.c., philly, baltimore, up in new york, flash flood watches. not the best of weekends for the northeast. better weather is on the way. >> all right. there you go. thanks, rob. >> all right. >> thank you, rob. coming up on "american morning," a struggling computer company hope as new boss can help turn things around. there she is there. she ran for governor of california, and also ran ebay. we're "minding your business." and taking the plunge. diana nyad, swimmer 62 years old, taking on the current, and attempting the sharks. she's going to try it one more

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welcome back. "minding your business" this morning. right now u.s. markets poised to rebound, maybe, after a march rabble day on wall street yesterday. the dow, s&p and nasdaq lost. biggest since 2008. european markets losing some of their early gains this morning. we'll see if u.s. markets stay up getting closer to the opening bell. investors lost $5 billion

alone on the wilshire 5,000 and 1 trillion gone last week going into today's 5,000. the wilshire is the broadest gauge for u.s. stocks. former chief meg whitman stepping in as the new ceo and chairman. the company the stock dropped more than 40% this year new hewlett-packa hewlett-packard. expected to push down long-term mortgage rates. the average year on a 30-year fixed mortgage, 4.09% according to freddie mac, check into your financing. and the amount of credit card debt is up 66% from the same time last year.

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good friday morning. it's half past the hour. here are your morning's top stories. yemen's president returned after nearly four months in saudi arabia according to state tv. injured on an attack on his palace and left the knt in june. his return comes as the capital city is ripped in bloody street battles that reportedly killed dozens in just the past week. getting a little ugly between the two front-runners for the republican nomination. all of the major candidates squared off last night in their third debate in as many weeks. while rick perry and mitt romney went at each other over flip-flopping health care and social security, former utah

governor jon hntsman may have found a scene. two new polls showing huntsman climbing into double digits into new hampshire. a must-win state for him. and getting around the no child left behind law. in just a couple of hour, president obama will announce relief from key provisions of the law in exchange for a commitment to broader reforms, ah, but a very rough week for 401 ks. investors taking a beating like they sn seen in three years and analysts saying it's beginning to feel a lot like 2008 again although different factors. are we on the verge of another financial meltdown? lats ask matt. the last two days, horrible. are there any reasons to be positive out there when you look around the world? >> there are reasons to be positive. many times investors make emotional decisions. i think right now our emotions are definitely riding very high, considering the news coming out. whether it be from europe or from china slowing down or even here in the united states.

so it's very difficult for people to have that long-term mentality. we've lost that a bit. i'm seeing individual investors kind of throw up their hand and say i'm done with the stock market until some good news comes out. unfortunately, by the time the good news comes out, the stock market's rallied 60%. >> telling you, looking ahead. the stock market, this summer, could have well been forecasting what we're hearing now. some economies on the verge of recession. >> could have a double dip recession. i think we've priced that double dip recession in already. if we do not have a recession next year, which i don't really think we're going to. a lot of estimates have global growth at about 4%. it isn't great, but not bad. 2% growth, i'll take that, if we can get 2% growth. if that's true, i think the stock market is in much better condition. >> that doesn't feel good to a lot of people looking for a job. there's not a lot to be

confident about. individual investors are throwing up their hands, you're saying. what are you supposed to buy at a time like this? what are you supposed to buy in stocks? >> find high quality stocks. easier said than done. a stock like apple, for example. hit an alltight high three days ago. people are actually buying, people have demand, still doing well. you have to look at areas like that. the utility index, a big index, hit a three-year high just this week as well. there are places that are doing much better than the average market. but when we had a sell-off, the last two days, whether stocks, gold, oil. they're all going down. it's tough to find somewhere to hide in this type of market. >> that's the thing. doesn't seem to be a place to hide. selling of gold, oil, stocks. you look at treasury yields. unbelievable. everyone's running into treasuries. you know, the u.s. safe haven. that's driving down yields. the fix -- a fixed rate mortgage, 4.09% for a 30-year.

can't believe the words are cupping out of my mouth. >> i have to go out and buy a home. the problem is, people may want to buy a home, but they can't get the loan, number one. number two, maybe you think you want to, but you still have that mentality now that there's a negative mentality looming everyone in the united states, they don't want to make the big purchase because of a lot of unknowns going forward. 1.1% who would loan money at 1.1% per year? getting bonds at 1.7, stocks become attractive, you'll see money come back in. >> you're a saver. the thing that hurts, if you're a saver or a charity or someone who is living on the proceeds of those investments and treasuries, you're not getting any money. >> with inflation starting to creep back into the market, you're actually losing money. especially a saving money. inflation is actually eating away your money. you're losing money as you dig a

hole and bury it. >> what should i do with my 401(k), ali velshi and i say, if you're just now figuring out a log-in for your 401(k). don't do it. you're going to make a mistake i. agree 100%. hitting high or low. the only time they go into the market. >> true. so emotional and making the move. it's already happened. >> sell the low, buy at high. you're putting in regular contributions actually dollar cost averaging in. a good time to keep putting money into the market over time. you know it's coming back. >> if you're 60, still have a lot of stock, too much in stocks. shouldn't have been there. a quick question about europe. keep hearing about banks in europe and how much of greece's debt they hold or debt related to greece. how important is europe to the situation for the u.s.? >> very important now. not as much because -- a lot of european banks own this greek debt. something happens to greece, default, they're going to take a

hit. it's a mentality thing. no matter what happens, i was watching canadian banks yesterday. down 7%, 8%. majority have zero exposure. what happens, you see something going on, sell first, ask questions later. in my mind, greece is important in the short term. long term i don't think it will affect the market like many believe. >> always nice to see you. a voice of reason in a very scary, scary week for stocks. thank you, sir. all right. here's what's new this morning. certainly something you don't see every day. 150 students ceasing a hall at uc-berkeley protesting what they call the death of public education. they're angry over a proposal that would almost double their tuition over four years. two people reportedly arrested. a uc-berkeley spokeswoman says campus police first used pepper spray against the students but then backed off and let them through. 1,900 teachers in tacoma,

washington, are going back to school this morning. they voted for a deal to end the strike that shut down classes for more than a week. the agreement comes after the state's government sat in on talks for most of the seven-hour bargaining session. teachers even ignored a court order to go back to work during the dispute. and she's taking the plunge again. diana nyad, the 62-year-old endurance swimmer now tells us she will make another try at a record 100-plus-mile swim from cuba to florida, and she's jumping in tonight. she tried this a second time over the summer. we followed her along the way in dangerous currents and shark infefrted waters. she had to be pulled out after 60 miles and 29 hours of swimming. she's trying for the world record for the longest ocean swim without a shark cage. one brave woman. >> yeah. >> 60 hours in the water, if she makes it. >> so fit. unbelieve al. her mental -- he mental focus is

unmatched. >> i can only imagine. best of luck, diana. a new face of poverty in the u.s. hospitals reporting a sharp rise in child malnutrition. deb feyerick goes live, next. and a group of scientists say they've done something that einstein said was impossible. it's 37 minutes after the hour. en that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®. [ woman ] my heart medication isn't some political game. [ man ] our retirement isn't a simple budget line item. [ man ] i worked hard.

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welcome back to "american morning." an in-depth look at new face of poverty in america. >> right. this morning we're visiting boston where the high cost of housing and heat have many families cutting back on food. deb feyerick with part two of her special report. good morning. >> good morning. usually we think of other countries like africa and somalia when we think of malnutrition. yet the problem is worse than you think. >> reporter: you wouldn't think this first grader suffers from malnutrition. his mom earns less than $10,000 a year at her part-time job. and even though the single mom

gets help from food stamps, she still worries constantly about not having enough to eat. >> i'm shaking. shaking. it's like -- crazy. you know -- number one thing, you've got to take care of the house, but i set out to see how i'm going buy food for my kid. kiss, kiss, kiss. >> reporter: figures show nationwide more than 16 million children like this live in homes with parents struggling to put enough food on the table. >> hi! >> reporter: this doctor treats him at boston medical center's unique grow clinic, which specializes in treating underweight and malnourished children. >> step right on the scale. 37.2 pounds. >> reporter: the 6-year-old currently weighs as much as an average 4-year-old. >> people think about acute malnutrition and may look at somalia or something like that. what we see is chronic malnutrition, stunted growth. kids that are the size of a

1-year-old when they're 2 years old. and they're not going to be able to make up that for the rest of their lives. >> reporter: emergency rooms in boston are seeing a spike in severely underweight children ages 5 and younger. a crucial period for brain growth and child development. these kids are more likely to get sick and fall behind in school. >> all right. where did i go next? okay. >> reporter: this pediatrician, deborah frank, runs the clinic and sees as many as 40 children a week. >> some kids are obvious. you can count their ribs. their arms and ledding are too skinny. their heads look big. the scary thing, even when you feed kids and get them physically growing, you can find deficits in learning and behave are all the way to high school. >> reporter: in other cities like baltimore and minneapolis, many doctors say the numbers of malnourished kids doubled in the last two years because of the

recession. boston the clinic opened a pantry where doctors now write prescriptions for food. >> we thought we were going to serve 500 family as month. last month we served 7,500 family. you can imagine. we're handing out over 70,000 bags of food every month. >> reporter: more than 40 million people received food stamps in the summer of 2010 alone. a record high. some in congress are talking about cuts in that and other nutrition programs. >> thought of somebody saying we'ring a to have a plague epidemic. so the government is cutting back on vaccinations and antibiotics to save money just at the plague has hit. >> reporter: and there are a lot of consequences, obviously. once brain development is stunted children lose that critical window of normal growth. doctors say lawmakers really have to decide whether they're going to invest now by continuing these nutrition program, and that would be proactive, or whether they'll have to deal with a host of social problems later. one of the reasons they think

this little boy lost weight, wasn't in school, wasn't getting a free lunch or breakfast as well. they think that contributed to some of his weight loss over the summer. >> school districts are feeding children sometimes three meals a day. hunger they say is the enemy of education. it costs more to the system. makes the teacher's job harder when a child is hungry and can't learn. >> reporter: absolutely. they start the day unable to learn because they're tired, cranky. it's not a healthy learning environment. you're looking at kids getting into hospitals longer, staying there longer. obviously, that take as toll on the hospital system. you're talking about kids also who may drop out of school, and that's a problem that has to be dealt with. it really is cumulative. >> deb, thank you very much. i think a lot of people forget as you pointed out, there is poverty right here in the united states. it's not half a world away. >> reporter: and it's serious. >> thank so much. coming up on "american morning," america's pastime.

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47 minutes past the hour. what you need to know to start your day. fears of another global meltdown sending markets tumbling. asian markets down sharply again overnight after u.s. and european markets suffered another steep sell-off. this country's spiraling towards civil war, state tv and yemen says president saleh returned. saleh spent three months in saudi arabia after being badly injured in an attack on his palace. she was kidnapped, held 18 years. dugard is suing the government for negligence, failing to properly monitor her captor, on parole when he abducted her. president obama described key elements of no child left behind. the bush administration's signature education initiative. the president unveils his new plan includes allowing states to opt out of the tough

requirements. planning to plead the fifth as a house hearing. the solar company went bankrupt after receiving a controversial half billion dollar guaranteed loan from the energy department. eyes on the sky. in a few hours, nasa expects the remnants of a 6 ton space satellite to come crashing back to earth. they don't know where the space junk will fall, but nasa scientists say it won't be in the united states or anywhere in north america. at least that's what we think. that's the news you need to know to start your day. "american morning" is back after this.

were back. it's a discovery that has scientist it's scratching their heads and may turn the universe upside-down. i don't know if we could go on. the largest physics lab tear found particles that travel faster than the speed of light. something einstein said would not happen. shaking up the foundation of physics that have been there since einstein published the theory of gravity. they need more research to confirm this. >> 186,282 miles per second was the cosmic speed limit. apparently it's been broken. >> the peace corps celebrating its 50th anniversary. former peace corps volunteer and writer maureen orr along with filmmaker susan koch traveled the world to highlight the work of current volunteers and those who experience significantly influenced their life. >> including moses waterland,

using a baseball to connect with kids in a remote village in morocco. >> first base. >> all: first base. >> second base. >> all: second base. >> third base. >> all: third base. >> home! >> all: home! >> basically, my primary job is to lead a maternal and early childhood health conference. the baseball team got started by, basically because we started out playing frisbee and the kids play pretty rough and broke the frisbee right away. so i had to come up with something else, because they kept coming to my door every day. so i found an ax handle, a tennis ball. we went out and started throwing the ball around. a lot of the older men don't want me to take their kids away from working the fields. sometimes we have to sneak out in this kind of evening.

this village is called agadeem. it's way up in the mountains. off and on running water. electricity off and on. it's very poor. these people make the best of what they have out here. some of the happiest people i've ever known, even though they really don't have that much stuff. when i had my interview rprior o coming here, they asked if there was any reason why i would quit? i told them, i won't quit. a lot of volunteers make joke, that's why they put me way out here. so -- i've been here over a year, and at first it was really stressful, because i came from living in new york city almost two years, and coming out here is just -- even leaving new york city for a couple of days feels like you're falling off the face of the earth. had i came out here, probably the toughest thing i've ever done in my life. [ speaking in foreign

language ]. >> he really likes moses. says he's the best foreigners of all the foreigners out there. he gave me a hat, and he says, in baseball, he loves to run around the bases and he loves to hit the ball. the first time i actually had a real baseball game happen, it was surprising to me they were actually doing it. the look in their eyes when they finally grasped the concept, a very rewarding experience. >> that's cool. enlisting volunteers to serve as ambassadors of peace is one of the first orders of business after president kennedy took office in 1961. peace corps working abroad a period of 24 months following three months of training. >> this is probably your favorite story of day. >> it is, actually. >> the super bowl chicago bears will be honored next month at white house. we mariean the super bowl champs from 1985, that is.

invited by president obama, a chicago resident himself, to make up for a visit that was cancelled 25 years ago following the "challenger" disaster. the '85 bears lost one game. are generally regarded as weren't of the best if not the best defensive teams in nfl history. >> and i went to one of those games in soldier field that season, and it is to this day one of the highlights of my life. >> a well known fact, my first local news job was in chicago. one of my first jobs, go into the locker room after the bears game. let's say it was an eye-opening experience. >> oh, yeah. all right. well, so, congratulations 1985 championship bears. can't wait. well, they let him have it back home. jay leno noticed something funny when lawmakers came back to washington. take a look. >> another record broken this week. congress' approval rating, all-time low, just 12%. a lot of politicians, a lot of

these congressmen back in their home districts. you can tell constituents are fed up with them. you can see it in their faces. show this tape. >> they're telling seniors to pay for more health care. >> the issue, this is where the spoils go. >> without additional assistance, the capacity to respond -- >> all right. this morning's top stories are straight ahead on this "american morning." the dramatic return of yemen's president as his country spirals towards civil war. find out why this is so significant, and why the u.s. is watching this situation so closely. plus, the best oneliner at last night's gop debate coming from a candidate you probably never heard of. it's 55 minutes after the hour. [ hayden ] what if there was a makeup

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mitt's been wrong on issues before. >> in my book i said no such thing. >> heating up in florida. who won, who lost? and a tense day. asking for full membership pt israel shaking its head and a u.s. veto already waiting. where will the sky fall today? nasa watching a u.s. satellite with the size of a bus that will break up and plunge towards the earth in a matter of hour. and grading on a scale. its report card day for 60 of your favorite restaurants. we talk to the anger of "eat this, not that" on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. it's friday, september 23rd. welcome to "american morning." al and carol have the day off today. >> and they were taking swipes at the president. accusing each other of taking

both sides on the issues. another testy gop debate last night. jim acosta, wrapping it up for us. he joins us from orlando with more. hey, jim. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, alina. you know, since the arrival of rick perry in his race for the white house, the debates have been basically a free for all on the texas govern are and last night's debate was no different. and it's possible that perry is starting to show some signs of wear and tear. >> governor perry -- >> reporter: it may have felt like that to rick perry, for the section governor, almost a game of one against eight. >> an argument i can't follow. >> on the perry-backed texas law that offers fund to illegal immigrants. >> that doesn't make sense to me, and that kind of magnet -- that kind of magnet draws people into this country.

>> and rick santorum with the overhead smash. >> why should they be given i treatment as an illegal in this country? i would say he is soft on illegal immigration. >> i don't think you have a heart. >> reporter: the gop front-runners defense of the law drew jeers but also boos from the crowd. >> this was a state issue. texans voted on it and i still support it greatly. >> senator santorum -- >> reporter: with the debate staged in florida where senior vets are on the line, romney once again pounded on perry's past statements on social security. >> there's a rick perry out there that is saying, almost a quote, it says that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business, that it's unconstitutional. unconstitutional and should be returned to the states. so you better find that rick perry and get limb to stop saying that.

>> reporter: at moments it seemed the punishment was taking its toll. perry seemed to get lost delivers one zinger on the health care law romney passed at governor of massachusetts i. think americans just don't know sometimes which mitt romney they're deal wig. he's for obamacare and now he's against it. >> reporter: except that romney has never supported the president's health care law. >> yeah. nice try. >> reporter: also standout moments for contender, trying to break through on foreign policy, former ambassador jon huntsman. >> only pakistan can save pakistan. only afghanistan can save afghanistan. all that i want right now at this point in history is for america to save america. >> reporter: and on the economy, probably the line of the night from former new mexico governor gary johnson. >> my next door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration. >> reporter: another defining moment didn't come from the stage. it came from a handful of people

in the audience. they booed a gay soldier for asking the candidates for their views on homosexuals in the military. >> do you intend to circumvent the progress that's been made for gay and lesbian soldier, in the military? >> reporter: now, this race is boiling down to a battle between rick perry and mitt romney. it's not clear whether or not last night's debate changed any of that, but florida republicans are going to get a chance to have their say. they're holding a straw poll this weekend. a non-binding straw poll, but could give an indication who is starting to break out of this pack and kyra -- excuse me. alina and christina, i should mention, one final thing to say about the gary johnson joke on the shovel-ready jobs, apparently the scoop on the pcht ocht poop, rush limbaugh made that first and gary tweeted giving

him credit. >> thanks jim, as always. >> a little whoopee when the cover politics a long time. in more than five hours, anywhere from five to six hours, mahmoud abbas will stand before the general assembly and ask the world to recognize palestine as a state. >> and knows full well he will be rejected. >> thanks to the behind-the-scenes lobbying by the united states. senior u.n. correspondent richard roth is with us this morning. richard, how is this going to play out today? >> reporter: good morning. today is a big day for the palestinians, then may come the drop-off based on the reception you mentioned. the palestinians formally commit their application to become a state, a neb of the united nations. south sudan tooking a few days. for the palestinians, it may make a lot longer. the leader of the palestinian, mr. abbas, met with ban ki-moon, the u.n. secretary-general earlier in the week. it's going to be a similar

meeting expected in a few hours where abbas as require will formally hand in his letter of application, plus another explanation letter, we're told, and then ban ki-moon will not waste time on this issue and hand it over to the u.n. security council for consideration. what will the united states do there? u.s. ambassador susan rice explained on "the situation room." >> the palestinians know that this is not going to result in their becoming full members of the united nations, as we've made very plain, if it were to come to it and if it were necessary, the united states would exercise its veto. >> reporter: the united states has veto power, but also the palestinians need nine yes votes from a lot of countries. germany and colombia may be opposed because of u.s. pressure and other historical aspects of the situation. so it's up in the air. a lot of embarrassment either way. the u.s. doesn't want to be seen as vetoing the palestinians pt the palestinians don't want to

not get those nine votes and not even face the veto. israel could be seen once again as an obstacle even though ar y israelis say let's talk. a lot going on. >> and taking his rhetoric to a new level, the iranian leader. >> using words the u.s. said were despicable, anti-semitic rhetoric. six years in a row. when the iranian president, mr. ahmadinejad spoke, a lot of people started leaving the hall. you see u.s. diplomats there. france, austria, you name it. a large number of countries strolled through the aisles. nobody yelling anything. ahmadinejad didn't seem to comment. he's used to the walk-outs. this was another situation someone may get a hint, he didn't even address the nuclear program, which is what really worries the united nations and said he would never accept israel even if there's a palestinian state living side-by-side, which could pose complications down the road.

>> called 9/11 a mysterious incident. >> that's why people were walking ot. again, questioning who was behind 9/11. that was done to create the wars in iraq and afghanistan. >> richard roth, thank you. bottom of the hour we'll talk about palestinian statehood and what's at stake for the u.s. and israel when we're joined by robin rig robin wright. and stayton president issal returned to yemen. his capital city gripped with fighting and shelling in the past week that has reportedly left dozens dead. his country sliding into a civil war over his refusal to step down and home to one of the boldest branches of al qaeda. an alarming discovery in libya that national transitional council says forces turned up what appears to be radioactive material as a military base in

southern libya. the site has warehouses containing barrels and plastic bags of yellow powder marked radioactive. nuclear experts believe moammar gadhafi was stockpiling yell po cakpo -- yellowcake. and a partial government shutdown in a week. the republican-controlled house passing a $3.7 billion disaster aid measure late last night, along with that key stop gap spending bill that would keep the government from shutting down calling for millions of dollars in cuts from the energy department to offset the costs of hurricane and wildfire victims senator majority leader harry reid already promising to reject it saying it's not an honest attempt to a compromise. and president obama expected to give a green light to opts out of the no child left behind law.

in exchange, states would agree to reforms favored by the federal government, including linking teacher evaluations to test scores. and expect a lot of silence at today's house hearing into the collapse of solyndra. planning to invoke the fifth amendment to refuse to answer questions. the california solar panel company went bankrupt after receiving a half billion controversial loan from the energy department. still to come, rick perry and mitt romney playing book critics. siege slams the other for not sticking to what they wrote. we'll look at who scored points at the gop debate. plus an interesting story we want to tell you about. striking back against puppy and kitten mills. how the city of toronto just changed the rules for pet shops. and it's the end of an era in daytime television. abc's "all my children" going off the air today after 41 years. you're watching "american

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13 minutes after the hour. welcome back to "american morning" on friday. >> yes. say that again. friday. >> friday. a lot of face time last night for the two republican front-runners. mitt romney and rick perry. >> spent a lot of time accusing each otherish flip-flopping, fighter over what eachwritten in their own books. >> there's a rick perry out there that sang that, almost a quote, it says that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business. that it's unconstitutional. unconstitutional and should be returned to the states. you better find that rick perry and get him to stop saying that. >> your hard copy book, stead was exactly what the american people needed to have that romneycare given to them as you

had in massachusetts. then in your paperbook you took that line out. so speaking of not getting it straight in the your book, sir -- >> it's fine for you to retreat from the your own words in your own book, but, please don't try and make me retreat from the words that i wrote in my book. >> forget about poll number. look at the amazon rankings, i guess. right? joining us with score cards, former congresswoman susan molinari and kiki mclean. how did they do? susan, you start of. >> compared to the way i think a lot of people like to portray, some people like to portray the republican party i think during these debates, particularly last night, republicans come across at likable and thoughtful. by and large, it's a really good show for the republican party. i think in light of the sparring that you just showed, which went on between perry and romney for a good portion of the night:think romney really got

the best of governor perry. in many ways governor per lay been a gift to the romney campaign. romney was out there with the rest of them, looked like he would be e de facto winner. governor perry comes in to be the tough challenge and thus far, although politics is a funny game, thus far seems like he's shown that governor romney may be the guy that can stand up to somebody like president obama when it comes to tough debating. >> well -- excuse me -- obviously, governor perry is the front-runner taking a lot of heat on a number of issues including immigration and his policy it allow illegal immigrants to qualify up to $ 2,000 in 22,000. let's listen. >> the fact of the matter is this, there is nobody on this stage who has spent more time working on border security than i have, but if you say that we should not educate children who

have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought there, by no fault of their own, i don't think you have a heart. >> and why should they be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country? that's what they're saying. so, yes. i am saying -- i would say that -- i would say that he is soft on illegal immigration. >> kiki, i don't want to diminish the importance of immigration as an issue, is that really what we need to be focusing on right now? go ahead. >> i'm a texan. so i understand that texas and texans have been involved in the border issues for a long time, but there was definitely a vacuum and a missed opportunity for republicans last night, because nobody was talking about job creation. nobody was having a serious conversation about the economy. and, you know, susan make as good point, which is, this is not just debate season for republicans. this is for everybody to watch. what i saw was really a race between two guys, and it was really about styles. they both have their own styles.

i don't know if styles is enough for people to make a decision and frankly, then when you heard the back and forth over the books, it felt like this, you know, bad moment at recess, after everybody gave this fifth grade book report. what you saw on the ots of that. the skirt, if you will, of the other candidates was really this race to the right. they're debating the race to the top, yet yesterday there was president obama there at the border at bridge that's not being fixed, not being made safe and efficient the way it should be, because we can't do what we need to do on our budget and asking people to adopt his plan that he's got on the table. i actually think last night republicans miss add huge opportunity, because they were not in the american conversation about jobs. >> a good segue to the other players, and how they were trying to sort of get an elbow in on what was clearly the romney and perry dominated debate. let's listen to some of these one liners. in some cases, that's how they'll be remembered the morning after. so listen. >> my next door neighbor's two dogs have created more

shovel-ready jobs than this current administration. >> itempted to say when all is said and done the two guys standing in the middle romney and perry aren't going to be around because they're going to bludgeon each other to death. >> you assume washington remains the way washington is now it's all hopeless, might as well buy greek bonds and ge down together. >> now, what's interesting to me, susan is that that comment from gary johnson was actually something that rush limbaugh said earlier in the day, and he credited him with that later. is somebody else going to break out or is it these two candidates? >> right now it is these two candidates. it seems very unlikely. you could have me on next week and i'll have to deny everything in the way the presidential elections go and politics these days. right now it looks pretty clear it's going to be these two candidates that will fight to the finish. with respect to what kiki said, a presidential election in 2012

that is going to be about president obama. whoever republicans pick up will have to talk about the lack of shovel-ready jobs, the lack of jobs across the board, the unemployment number, failed stimulus. the inability to lead this country out of a malaise. it is fair that the republicans try and figure out who is going to be that front-runner, both stylistically and with regard to ideas -- >> but in fairness -- susan's right. the incumbent is always in a defensive position by the nature, the structure of the campaign, but you don't win just by attacking the other guy. they're going to have to show's with ideas. the american people want that. when you hear the great one liners, gosh, susan and i have all been at debates. those are fun moments and means you sort of win an election on youtube. not necessarily in the general population, but there has to be a discussion about what they're going to do about the jobs going forward, and they blew that last night. >> i do want to -- >> hold on a minute. >> -- answer questions that are

asked. that's what they did. romney has a 51-point plan. governor perry will come out with his i think this week. >> but they have a chance to move that conversation and you know that, susan. >> i want to bring up this. you talk about obama and the incumbent and this being a race to beat obama on the republican side. the latest poll shows while perry leads romney by 28% to 22%. romney beats obama, but perry does not, and those numbers, if we can pull them up, are 42% to 44% in obama's fave perp susan, aren't republicans in a bit afriof of a conundrum? romney is not seen as being, you know, vibrant and electable in

terms it of being the nominee. you saw the numbers. they think he can win the general election? >> this is always the great challenge in any race where there's a primary and you have to go to a general election. there's nothing new about a candidate who has to tack right or left to win the party's nomination and then move a little to the center and emphasize the issue, which i think both perry and romney can do, emphasizing different issues that prevent for central views. it is a conundrum but one we face every four years and every two years in the united states congress. >> susan and i agree on the concept of electability as a campaign message, it's a nowhere. easy thing. conventional wisdom. the end of the day, you rarely move votes on elctability and romney will be smart to stay on his own message rather than adapting an electability message. >> and pushing it all back to

the president. when the fighting gets real good among the republicans he's the one who keeps turning it back. eventually, of course when there's a candidate that will have -- a. new contract for america. >> true. that's right. >> something he said abraham lincoln wouldn't win on. >> there you go. susan molinari and skiki mclean thank you. passing a new law saying all dogs and cats sold in pet stores must come from shelters, rue main societies or rescue groups. designed to stop the illegal sale of pets from breeders who raise animals in unsanitary and overcrowded kennel. still to come on this "american morning," blockbuster trying to make a move on netflix. the new service the company is launching today. we're back after this. ♪

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30 minutes after the hour. this breaking news, you're looking at pictures just into us as cnn of fighting going on right now in the west bank. palestinians, you see there, throwing rocks, burning tires near the west bank checkpoint of kalandia. we'll fomonitor the situation. this comes at president mahmoud abbas enters his proposal for

statehood. largely seen as dead on arrival. for more on that we head to christine. >> history unfolding this afternoon at the united nations. in less than five hours or so, palestinian president mahmoud abbas will stand before the leaders of the world and ask for recognition as a state. joining us this morning to discuss the significance of that request and the efforts by the united states and israel to make sure it fails is robin wright, senior fellow at the u.s. institute of peace joinings live from washington and here with me in new york, james ruben, former u.s. assistant secretary of state and ed editor of the "bloomberg view." the u.s. could like for this not to happen. president abbas will still make the application. what happens next? >> the u.s. has been scrambling to try to dissuade the palestinian government from going forward with this application or at a minimum, avoid a situation where enough

votes are in the security council to pass it, so that the u.s. would have to exercise an veto. the palestinians will go forward, my guess, but then a discussion both in the security council and possibly in the general assembly where the u.s. does not have a veto. although it doesn't have the same power tshs could allow the palestinians to get a victory, which is something i think that president abbas is desperate to get at this point. >> can i ask you about our president, president obama? on the campaign trail, republicans are hitting this message that president has somehow thrown israel under the bus. you have this background, i guess, noise from a political season, and then you have this reality happening at the u.n. how do you square those two? >> you really can't in the end. the president in his speech at the united nations made a rather startlingly compelling description of the plight of israel in the arab world over the years, and it was a

remarkably supportive statement. and the fact that he didn't try to do the same thing about the palestinians who have been seeking their self-determination tells me, at least, that his last year in this term is going to be focused on the domestic side. that could only change. there's only one way i think that could change. you saw the pictures from the region of protests. the problem with the palestinian cause, unlike tunisia, egypt and libya, is it's not seen by israelis in particular and the united states in the same way, because there aren't hundreds of thousands of palestinians peacefully protesting. if they can get that going in a way they've never been able to do before, that really could transform the situation and make a link to the arab spring, which is what they've been trying to do, but they've never been able to sustain long-term peaceful protests. i think that's the only way they'll be a real movement this next year. >> robin wright, let me bring

you in. bringing in arab spring, such a great point. that should be the movement celebrated and talked about at this session, yet the dialogue, the debate, the issue, the controversy, continues to be israel and the palestinians. >> yes. weren't of the side effects of this move is that the focus of the last nine moss a political turning point tore the entire region begins to be diverted or derailed. the focus has not been on the arab/israeli conflict, not the anger towards the united states we've seen over the past 60 years. this was a turning point in the international community as welling as the political situations in each of their countries. the problem with the vote, the focus of the arab world will look increasingly at israel and the danger as tensions deepen, positions harden not just between the palestinians and israel but the arabs in general. >> as the democracies begin to develop and governments there

begin to be named, they will start taking positions on israel. no question. that puts the u.s. in a pretty difficult spot. >> absolutely. as these countries begin to develop, you know, platforms for parties that will be key in the new elections, the danger is that they take positions on israel that are then written in black and white and not so easy to erase. that, then, sets the whole process, the whole mood of the region back in very serious ways. >> robin, quickly, what's the next step? how do you get the peace process moving again? >> one of the interesting questions is whether this is going to harden positions or whether this will jump-start president sarkozy of france who's stepped in and talked about an alternative. a program where with one year you get to a final agreement with three different steps. whether they'll be some kind of movement. the problem is you always get back to the issue of jewish settlements and the palestinians say they're not going to negotiate until there's a freeze and the israelis are not going to freeze. so there are a lot of different

issues that still have to be sorted out before they get back to the negotiating table. >> always get back to the old issues. some of these problems and disagreements seem almost intractable from the israeli side. >> the israeli/palestinian issue, it's remarkable. a likud party, conservative party member, wrote an article in the "new york times" pointing out hoe close he was a couple years ago to an agreement. we know the destination, two states share jerusalem. the amount of territory going back to 67, refugees will go to a palestinian state, not an israeli -- not israel. we know the destination. it's the journey. it's how to get there. how to have a combination of an israeli leader a palestinian leader and an american president who's got clout. the biggest change we face right now, i'm sad to say, is that the leverage an american president usually has is based upon his popularity any israel.

his ability to affect the political reality in israel, and president obama for better or worse is not particularly popular in israel and that limits his leverage to do the kinds of things robin talked about in terms of encouraging earlies to make the environment compatible for negotiations. >> thank you both. have a wonderful weekend. thanks. still ahead, cnn in-depth taking a look at changing face of poverty in america. in a moment, a group that's trying to break the cycle of pain one circle at a time. and today's "roman's numeral" 186,262. here's a hint. you don't need einstein to figure it out. 37 minutes after the hour. ♪

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were back. she was kidnapped at the age of 11, held 18 years. now jaycee dugard is suing the federal government for negligence. the complaint says authorities failed to properly monitor her captor, convicted sex offender philip garrido on parole at the time that he abducted her. >> he's talking now. brian stow, the san francisco giants' fan beaten with an inch of his life on opening day in l.a., asked to see his kids earlier this week. the first time he's said anything in six months. the family saying they are lone away. suffered a traumatic brain injury. his medical care is expected to cost more than $50 million. two men pleaded not guilty related to that beating. one woman doing something the two of us probably could never do, i think it's safe to

say. >> no way. >> diana nyad is going for it one more time and good for her. she's headed to cuba and will try again to swim 100 mimes to florida starting tonight. nyad tries the feat last month but had to quit after 29 hours because of a shoulder injury and an asthma attack. >> i am capable of swimming from cuba to florida, and i will give it up if i can't -- if i just can't make it, but i didn't prove that to myself in this particular swim. >> a cuba to florida swim could take up to 60 hours, and if she makes it, nyad will set a world record for longest ocean swim without a shark cage. an in-depth look now at the new face of poverty in the america. the focus, an organization now operating in nearly two dozen states looking to end the cycle of pain one circle at a time. >> i signed my papers today for

my bankruptcy. >> reporter: carrie is an unemployed mother of four with it's 1ds 75,000 in debt i. couldn't afford day care. so i had lost my house, my car and my job, and the i've been on the system, and it's just -- struggling circle. i can't get out of it. >> reporter: carrie turned to circles. a nonprofit community group with a simple goal -- to end poverty. >> we take people from all walks of life and sit them down to the table together, and they solve situations which allow people to remain in poverty. >> i have a job interview on thursday. >> yeah! >> reporter: the group pairs those who are struggling with a volunteer mentor, or an ally, as they call it, to help make an action plan. >> ally's primary role is to ask one question in any circumstance. what do you need from me? now how can i fix it? not, do you need money? but what do you need from me? >> reporter: circles is in 23

states and 63 communities. ceo caryn van sant says the faces of poverty of changing. >> we have a lot of families that were right on the cusp of middle income that have fallen into poverty through foreclosures, divorce, being laid off from their job. >> reporter: carrie is still looking for work, but knows she's not alone. >> you're with a bunch of people in your same situation association you can know that you're not the only one out there. >> yes. i still feel like i'm in poverty. >> reporter: this woman isn't afraid to admit her reality but the 19-year-old single mom does want to change it. >> i have a lot of expect aces for myself, and i'm not there yet. >> reporter: she says she was kicked out of her home when pregnant and looking for somewhere to turn. with no income, she turned to a shelter and the shelter suggested circles. >> our goal together is so that her life will be better. >> reporter: and there's kathy dieterly, a loan processor until

the subprime crisis hit. >> we had leased vehicle, credit cards. the whole nine yards, and when i lost my job that really hurt us. >> reporter: she came to circles for support and never considered herself in poverty because she says she wouldn't allow it. >> i would have made sure we wouldn't have gone out on the street, one way or another from hell or high water. >> she's just $600 in debt, remortgaged found a job and she is now an ally. >> i had this group on top of it, and i was never poor. never. >> reporter: as this woman has a job and will be moving into an apartment. her number one goal -- >> be a great role model for my child and be successful. >> so interesting. so many different circumstances that brought people to pevty or the edge of poverty but they're all looking to someone who got out of poverty to help them, too. the goal, not have generational poverty. get in and slurve never slip

out. all walks of life. a loan officer somebody doing fine, and a divorce, or a husband's loss of income, loss of child support. lots of different circumstances. everyone trying to figure how to break that cycle. >> and generally how long are people in the program? i guess it varies? >> it really varies. again, some people are in the program because they refuse to say, i am poor. i am in poverty, and this actually helps uplift them and helps give them some -- i guess confidence that other people haven't been able to pull themselves out. >> that in itself is important. >> absolutely. a number in the news today we teased you with it. of course, the number is the speed of light in miles per second. we told you about that somewhere in switzerland, slightly went faster than that. we'll update you on that story. is einstein wrong? >> mc squared. >> exactly.

>> around the world. >> exactly. being greeted with skepticism at this point. >> true. >> your morning headlines are first. plus, "eat this, not that" america's report card for america's leading strants and some of the grades just may surprise you. it's 47 minutes after the hour. >> i'm not a physicist. what if we turned trash into surfboards? whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing, instant hot spots, and powerful devices like the motorola photon 4g. so let's all keep asking the big what ifs. sprint business specialists can help you find the answers. sprint. america's favorite 4g network. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintrelay.com.

49 minutes after the hour. here are your headlines.

poised for a lower open after a miserable day on wall street yesterday. investors lost $500 billion in stocks just yesterday alone on the wilshire 5,000, which is the broadest gauge for u.s. stocks. history will be made this afternoon at the united nations. in just over four hours, palestinian president mahmoud abbas will stand before the leaders of the world and ask for recognition as state. a request the u.s. has pledged to reject with a veto. going at it over government spending and what to cut in the gop debate in orlando. the two front-runners, rick perry and mitt romney, lobbed attacks at each other over social security and held care. and teachers going back to school in tacoma, washington, after teachers voted to end their strike that shut down classes for more than a washington. dead satellite falling. nasa says the satellite remnants won't make landfall in north

america, but still not sure exactly where it will land later today. the faa is advising pilots to be on the lookout for falling debris. that's the news you need to know to start your day. "american morning" is back after this.

love it or hate it. fast food has become apamerican institution. men's health is out with a new report card for the chain restaurants as popular "eat this, not that" series. author of "eat this, not that" is here to show and tell.

this is really interesting. you gave your first a and we'll get to that in just a moment. first, the ten worst places list. your criteria, fat, sodium, rb calories. no surprise there. cheesecake factory, tgi friday's and ihop. any surprises azas you look on that list? >> not really. that reminds me of my junior high report card. what you see there, as you look at them, most of them are sit down chains and one of the problems we looked at everything. we looked at average calorie size, portion size, calories, fat, sugar. we dinged people for reliance on trans fat and the problem is one in four americans are eating a restaurant meal and no one holding them accountable and that's what "eat this, not that" is trying to do. what we're looking at, in many

cases, monstrous calories in healthy-sounding food. >> enough calories for the entire day. let's get to it. i want to take a look at the cheesecake factory's grilled shrimp and bacon club. and, you know, it sounds pretty healthy, but it's a huge sandwich, right? >> well, it's a huge sandwich and it's 1,900 calories. they are clubbing you over the head with a day's worth of calories, saturated fat, sodium. and that's one of the big problems. very hard to get the nutrition information, which is why they earn the f in our restaurant report card. we have to set them back a grade now. and the good news is they just recently came out with this skin skinnylicious menu. >> let's look at the plate right next to it. ribs from jack daniels. that's equivalent to three large bags of doritos.

americans love ribs, too. this isn't the one you should order. >> that's 66 grams of fat, 1,600 calories. you eat those ribs too much and you may never see your own, again. the problem there, too, is that you have 177 grams of carbs. okay, now, it's not coming from the meat, so, it must be the sugary glaze. but that's almost 700 to 800 calories worth of carbohydrates in a dish that really should just be the ribs. >> i want to look at this ihop salad. chicken and spinach salad. i do know this from talking to you. salads sound very healthy but in many cases they're not. >> the chicken is good, the spinach is good and everything else is a fat fest. that has more fat than anything else on their menu. so, you're talking about 1,600 calories, 118 grams of fat and 2,400 milligrams of sodium,

which is more than a day's worth. ihop gets the f and maybe we rename them iflop. >> ten best restaurant lists. you gave your first ever a to subway, jamba juice, chick fillfil chic-fil-a. i often stop at subway. this is good news for me. >> this is an express train to good eating. you're getting your meat, ham and turkey for around 350 calories. subway was one of the first to introduce really healthy, nutritious options on the menu. they pledged also this year to lower their sodium counts. that's happening. so, they have a very -- >> it all started with that guy that lost all that weight. >> jared, who we actually profiled in "men's health." this guy is like holding up his pants and they said, hey, that could be a great campaign for

us. >> that's good. let's talk about this sandwich from chic-fil-a. it's grilled chicken, but it also has bacon and cheese. this really surprised me. you said order this, right? >> good luck finding something like this at 410 calories else where when it has bacon and cheese on it. so, it's a char grilled chicken sandwich and it's really good. it's really reasonable. it only has five grams of saturated fat. so, that definitely earns a eat this seal of approval. >> and you've got like 12 or 2,400 books with 7.5 million in circulation. really great success stories of people who have lost 120 pounds in 11 months by eating at their favorite restaurants and their favorite foods and even their favorite desserts. you don't have to diet. >> i was paging through this last night, "eat this, not that" 2012 edition. if you can fit it in your purse, take it to a restaurant. it's a good cheat sheet.

>> people don't realize the food could be good or could be disastro disastrous. they don't know. these things sound healthy and they're not. we try to serve as that guide giving out the sensible suggestions and timely warning. >> so you can show me over lunch later today. dave, thank you so much. top stories when we return. also ahead, acerous bo derek joins us live in our studio. ] [ tires screech ] [ crying ] [ applause ] [ laughs ] [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] your life will have to flash by even faster. autodrive brakes on the cadillac srx activate after rain is detected to help improve braking performance. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. a dab of concealer here... a flurry of powder there.

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i'm alina cho. the palestinian president poised to make history today. he will be standing before the united nations in just four hours requesting recognition as a state, fully knowing he doesn't stand a chance. a fierce gop debate. i'm christine romans. but were all those claims true or false? we'll fact check these candidates on this "american morning."

good morning. it's friday, september 23rd. i'm alina cho with christine romans. ali and carol are off today. fighting going on right now in the west bank. palestinians throwing rocks and burning tires near a checkpoint. this asthma mud abbas gets ready to speak to the u.n. general assembly in a few hours. he is getting ready to ask the world to accept the palestinians as a member. >> it is a measure the united states has pledged to veto. richard roth is with us again this morning. richard, good morning. again, how is this going to play out? >> good morning, as predicted by the palestinians, they are going to the secretary-general of the united nations and they will present this formal application for membership. mahmoud abbas, the palestinian leader, will speak to the general assembly and no doubt get huge applause because the large share of the membership of

the u.n. is fully behind this formal statehood bid. however, a u.s. veto awaits in the security council and even yesterday we saw permanent member of the united kingdom express high doubts about this palestinian statehood bid. >> there has been much speculation about what will happen here this week. let's be clear about one fact. no resolution can, on its own, substitute for the political will necessary to bring peace. peace will only come when palestinians and israelis sit down and talk to each other, make compromises, build trust and agree. so, our role must be to support this. to defeat those who embrace violence, to stop the growth of settlements and to support palestinians and israelis alike to make peace. >> there are so many angles to this story. i mean, some credit abbas and the palestinians with a great

strategic move, galvanizing efforts and ramping everything up to prompt maybe peace talks and get a timetable for agreement. pressure israel on a lot of issues. others see this as a legacy bid. you see violence in the west bank. some predict widespread violence. a lot of people have a lot to lose, but so much frustration on this peace effort for decades now. >> meanwhile, fireworks at the u.n. sparked in large part by t. >> antisumettic language inside the general assembly hall prompting walkout from many european countries. he questioned really who was behind 9/11 and what were the motives to get into a war with iraq and afghanistan. really dispicable comments. at the end, the british prime

minister cameron with a one-word answer. listen as he walked out of the building. >> mr. cameron, do you have thoughts on president ahmadinejad's speech today, sir? >> dreadful. the one-word answer. this is about the sixth or seventh time ahmadinejad has been there and he is even fiercer in his rhetoric and didn't talk about the nuclear program, but the big question for the u.n. is what's going on with those nuclear centrifuges and the fuel. it's easy to talk, people are walking out, but a larger issue at stake that we may learn about in the years to come. >> this is not new for ahmadinejad, just interesting to note that they did have so many people walk out of the room. >> the famous protester that was shot and killed, that was a staged scene and that she was killed later on. >> richard roth, thank you so much. appreciate it. united states is facing the real possibility of a partial government shutdown in just seven days. in fact, you're going to look

live here in a moment to capitol hill where another example of partisan gridlock is raring itsing ugits ugly head this morning. a disaster measure late last night along with a key gap spending bill that would keep the government from shutting down. calls from massive energy department bills to help offset the cost of hurricane and wildfire victims but, this is a key but,b senator majority leader harry reid is already planning to reject it. >> you can expect lots of silence at today's house hearing into the collapse of solyndra. informing committee members that they plan to invoke the fifth amendment, they will refuse to answer questions. the california solar panel company went bankrupt after receiving a controversial $500 million guaranteed loan from the energy department under stimulus. the controversial no child left behind law is about to get a makeover. president obumma this morning

will announce plans to waive key provisions of the law to help states get around it. the bush era initiative has grown increasingly unpopular as more schools risk being labeled a failure. president obama's law would get students more ready for college and evaluating teachers and principals. 25 years after winning the super bowl, the chicago bears will finally have their moment at the white house. the team's original post-super bowl celebration was canceled because of the shuttle "challenger" disaster. they will host them on october 7th at the white house. no word whether they'll do the super bowl shuffle for them. >> that's great. 25 years later. something like that. anyway. >> seems like yesterday, sort of. they were taking swipes at the president and accusing each other of taking both sides on the issues. it was another testy gop debate last night.

jim acosta joins us live from orlando. hey, jim, good morning. >> good morning. since rick perry got into this race, these debates have been a free for all on the texas governor and last night's debate was no different. the big question is whether any of this abuse is having an impact on perry's frontrunner status. >> governor perry. >> it may have felt like badminton to rick perry, but to the texas governor, it was almost a game of one against eight. on the perry-backed texas law that offers in-state tuition to the children it was romney with the set up. >> that doesn't make sense to me and that kind of magnet -- that kind of magnet draws people into this country. >> reporter: and rick santorum with the overhead smash. >> why should they be given

preferential treatment? that's what we're saying. yes, i would say that he's soft on illegal immigration. >> i don't think you have a heart. >> reporter: the gop's defense of the law drew cheers and also boos from the crowd. >> this was a state issue. texans voted on it and i still support it greatly. >> senator santorum -- >> reporter: with the debate staged in florida, where senior votes are on the line, romney, once again, pounded on perry's past statements on social security. >> there's a rick perry out there that is saying almost to quote, it says that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business. that it's unconstitutional. unconstitutional and it should be returned to the states. so, you better find that rick perry and get him to stop saying that. >> reporter: at moments it seemed the punishment was taking its toll. perry seemed to get lost on the

health care law. >> i think americans just don't know sometimes which mitt romney they're dealing with. he's for obama care and now he's against it. >> reporter: except that romney has never supported the president's health care law. >> nice try. >> reporter: but there were also standout moments for contenders trying to break through on foreign policy, jon huntsman. >> only pakistan can say pakistan. only afghanistan can say afghanistan. all that i want right now at this point in history is for america to save america. >> reporter: on the economy, probably the line of the night from former new mexico governor, perry johnson. >> my neighbors dogs have created more jobs. >> reporter: another defining moment didn't come from the stage, but from a handful of people in the audience who booed a gay soldier for asking the candidates on their views on homosexuals in the military. >> do you intend to circumvent

the progress that was made for gay and lesbians serving in the military? >> it's unclear if this race has come down to rick perry versus mitt romney. whether any of the abuse the texas governor took last night actually changed this debate. florida republicans will have their say later on this weekend when they hold an informal, nonbinding straw poll on the state of the race. one final note on that gary johnson quip on the shovel ready jobs, it turns out rush limbaugh told that joke earlier in the day. gary johnson tweeted late last night that it's limbaugh that deserves the credit for that joke. guys? >> all right. >> giving credit where credit is due. jim acosta live for us in orlando. thanks, jim. some zingers last night, of course. but were they all true? tom foreman with a little debate factor from washington. first up, michele bachmann. >> good morning. our truth squad was up all night

sorting through some of the things that were said and there are a lot of things to choose from. i have to tell you that much. let's look at a statement by michele bachmann. many of these, we'll have them all day long. just so you have a sense of it. one thing she had to say had to do with obama care. listen to what she said about that and jobs. >> the signature issue of barack obama and his presidency has been the passage of obama care. this week a study came out from ubs that said the number one reason why employers aren't hiring is because of obama care. >> so, she's calling obama care the top job killing in the nation. there are some things you have to understand about this. first of all, what is ubs, an international investment firm that is based in switzerland. as best we can find, this wasn't a study as such that concluded this as much as just an advisory that they send out to investors saying, we think this is happening. ubs has previously also been involved in talking about many

other factors that have affected the economy. so, to say that this comes down to the idea of obama care being the top job killer, we're giving that a rating of being misleading simply because there's more to it than that. yes, ubs dead say something about that, but to suggest this is some sort of large academic study that concluded through a lot of numbers that caused it, that does not seem to be the case. >> tom foreman, that's pretty fancy stuff there. let's and, good for you, you didn't sleep much. thanks for waking up mitt romney's next. what have we got there? >> mitt romney. i want you to listen what he said after he went after rick perry on the issue of illegal immigration. listen. >> four years of college, almost $100,000 discount. if you're an illegal alien to go to the university of texas. if you're a united nations citizen from any one of the other 49 states, you have to pay $100,000 more. that doesn't make sense to me.

that kind of magnet -- that kind of magnet draws people into this country to get that education, to get the 1 "headline news0$10. >> a discount if you're an illegal immigrant to go to school in texas. what is that all about? this statement bears some looking at. a magnet for illegal immigrants. we don't know if it's a magnet. we can't prove what draws everywheever everyone where they do. nonetheless, he's welcome to that opinion. we do know this, if you went to the university of texas, it does allow you if you're an illegal immigrant and you went to high school there for several years to get in-state tuition. versus out of state tuition. going to the university of texas right now about $25,000 a year. if you were an out of state student you would pay an additional $23,000 to go there. an illegal immigrant doesn't pay that. it gets close to the $100,000

over four years. one thing he leaves out here. many other states do the same. california, new mexico, kansas, nebraska, new york, maryland, wisconsin to name a few. i think, washington, also. there are some states that have forbidden this, but to aim all of this at texas, to suggest somehow that is really the problem, obviously, that was an attempt to get at rick perry. we'll call that one true, but incomplete. there is something going on, but that's not the whole picture if you look at it. >> but the statement is true. the statement that he said is true. >> there is such a deal. there is such a deal there. but to suggest in a way that, gee, it's just texas and rick perry and somehow they're coddling illegal immigrants. a lot of other states feel the same way. this is something they should do. rick perry said, it's unthinkable to tell young people that are learning that they can't suddenly be treated as in-state students. it's a dicy issue. truth at the core of it, but needed to be more told if you wanted viewers to really

understand. >> isn't that politics? truth at the core of it. >> that's the whole thing. tom foreman, thanks, tom. >> thank you, tom. up next, mystery solved. 30 years after it went missing. a precious moon rock has been found. you won't believe where. here's the weird part, former president bill clinton's files. that's where it was. we'll explain. new research says albert einstein may have been wrong. relatively speaking. rocked by new findings by one of the world's most foremost laboratories. bo derek is live in our studios and after she sits down with us, she's off to the united nations. why? she'll tell us. stick around, it's 16 minutes after the hour.

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great choice of song. welcome back. a group of scientists is changing the speed limit, changing the speed limit of the universe. >> the world's largest physic's laboratory has found particles that travel faster than the speed of light. something albert einstein said couldn't happen. it would shake up the foundations of physics that have been there since he published that theory of relativity over 100 years ago. of course, they said they need to do much more research to confirm this. we reported the story a few times this morning and my inbox is full of people debating the theory of relativity. >> you'll be busy answering

those questions all weekend, christine. what einstein is responsible for is this a precious piece of moon rock missing for 30 years found at an arkansas library inside a nondescript pifile box. one of 50 so-called good will moon rocks that were presented to gifts of each of the 50 states. now it's in a library safe. in other space news, what is left of the disintegrating space satellite is falling to earth. nasa expects the crash landing later today. just where it will hit, nobody knows exactly. but space scientists say it won't pass over north america. at least we hope. >> the cone of uncertainty. rob marciano in the extreme weather center. >> it's a wide cone. taking north america out of the equation. passing over the east coast of russia and about to get back over alaska and the general orbit of this thing is like this. if it begins to get out of the

orbit around 7:00, 8:00, that would take it out of the pacific ocean and out of the u.s., maybe over south america and potentially over western europe and over africa. so, still all in all a 60% chance of it hitting water considering that's how much of the worth is covered by it. the atlantic ocean, temperatures very warm. enough to sustain a hurricane. ophelia is not developing all that great. 45-mile-per-hour winds right now and might even disintegrate to a tropical depression. may stay a tropical storm, but likely with this strong cold front on the east coast push it out to sea. that cold front developing some rain showers across parts of georgia, the carolinas up the appalachians and up the i-95 corridor and baltimore, philly, d.c. that's where the rain is now and it will begin to fill in as we go over time. rain on the increase across the tristate geria of new york city and we could see enough to see a

flash flood warning. a warning for the del marva and east coast and right through eastern new england. as far as travel delays today. new york metros will see some and d.c. metros. daytime highs on the cool side behind this front. friday, animal files. we start you off with a panda. you may remember about five, six years ago born in atlanta. hist historic moment. at the time it was decided the panda was a girl. >> it was decided. this one is going to be a girl. >> they said it was a girl. here's the problem with pandas, their potatoes, so to speak, don't drop until 3 or 4 years old and now it's over in china and they decided that the panda we thought was a girl here in atlanta is a boy. >> it's in china for breeding, right? because they're endangered, they like to keep track of which ones are boys and girls for obvious reasons. >> ship them back to where they are from to breed them a little bit more. >> i think it's interesting

because it took five years to figure it out. >> dude looks like a lady. >> should change his name to amanda the panda. but i guess, in the first 12 or 24 hours you could see much more clearly after they're born whether they're a boy or a girl because they're dehydrated and the mother panda didn't want anyone poking around her baby, they didn't do it right away. >> you know more about pandas. >> we are up at 2:30, rob. kind of cute, little nasty. huge african snails have innovated south florida. these things can grow up to eight inches long, they're kind of nasty if you're a snail lover. they leave nastiness over houses and, in fact, they eat stucco. this is doing some damage and they're trying to eradicate them as soon as possible.

next week, i'll go down to investigate the amphibious and reptile invasion going on. >> a lot of stucky in florida. >> eight inches long. up next a check of the morning markets. do you fear your credit card bills every month? are you knee-deep in debt? we have some good news about your plastic habit. we are watching your money. it's 24 minutes after the hour. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

welcome back. it's 28 minutes after the hour. watching your money this morning. u.s. markets now poised for a lower open. european and asian stocks are down, too. this after a pretty miserable day on wall street yesterday. the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 all

lost more than 3%. the two-day loss for the dow, yeah, the biggest since, oh, 2008. americans are swiping their cards like it's 2008, again, literally. the amount of credit card debt added in the second quarter is up 66% from the same time last year. cardhub.com says it hasn't been this high since 2008 when credit debt was at its peak. but people are paying their bills on time. that's the difference. mortgage rates are at a record lows for the third week in a row and the fed bond twisting stimulus plan will push down long-term interest rates for mortgages maybe even further. freddie mac says the average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 4.09%. it has never been this cheap to borrow money to buy a house. so, about jobs and toys "r" us is hiring for the christmas season. the company says it will add 40,000 temporary jobs to handle the holiday shopping frenzy. this is usually the case around the holidays, but it's worth

noting that toys "r" us ended up hiring 10% of those temp workers to work full-time. hoping a pair of dorothy's ruby red slippers will be a $3 million fit. one of four surviving pairs worn by judy garland in "wizard of oz." the slippers will be auctioned in november. still ahead, they're not old enough to have to pay the family bills, but the tough economy is hitting little kids across the u.s. hard. our stunning cnn report, next. even though i'm a great driver, and he's... not so much. well, for a driver like you, i would recommend our new snapshot discount.

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developing now. you are looking live at fighting going on right now in the west bank. palestinians throwing rocks, burning tires near a checkpoint. this comes as palestinian president mahmoud abbas gets ready to speak to the united nations general assembly in just a couple of hours. he is expected to formally ask the world to accept the palestinians as a member. yemen's president, meanwhile, has returned after nearly four months in saudi

arabia, this according to state tv. he left the country back in june. this is new video of a massive rally in apparent support of the returning president. his return comes as the capital is gripped in bloody street battles that have killed dozens in just the past week. president obama offering states a way to get around the no child left behind law. in just a few hours, he'll announce a plan to provide relief from key provisions in exchange for a commitment to broader reforms. the fight between the gop frontrunners heating up in florida. mitt romney and rick perry accusing each other of flip-flopping on key issues. >> a rick perry out there that is saying, almost to quote, that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business. that it's unconstitutional and it should be returned to the states. so, you better find that rick perry and get him to stop saying that. >> i think americans just don't know sometimes which mitt romney they're dealing with.

he's for obama care and now he's against it. >> all the candidates took their shots at the national leader, governor perry. polls now suggesting former utah governor jon huntsman is gaining in a must-win state new hampshire. >> into the double digits now. >> interesting. an in-depth look at poverty in america. this morning we're visiting boston where the high cost of housing and heat have many families cutting back on food deb feyerick is back with part two of our report. we often forget, it's right here in our backyard. >> that's exactly right. that's exactly right. we tend to think about malnourished children in other countries places like africa and somalia, but we don't have to go that far to look for children who are hungry. looking at juvin lewis, you would never guess this first grader suffers from chronic

malnutrition. his mom earns less than $10,000 a year at her part-time job. and even though the single mom gets help from food stamps, she still worries constantly about not having enough to eat. >> i'm shaking. shaking. crazy. you know, number one thing, you have to take care of the house. but after that to see how i'm going to buy food for my kid. >> reporter: figures show nationwide more than 16 million children like juvin live in homes with parents struggling to put enough food on the table. dr. megan sandell treat him at boston's children's clinic which specializes in treating underweight and malnourished children. >> step right on the scale. 37.2 pounds. >> reporter: 6-year-old juvin currently weighs as much as an

average 4-year-old. >> people think about acute malnutrition and look at somalia, what we see is chronic malnutrition and stunted growth and kids that are the size of a 1-year-old when they're 2 years old. they're not going to be able to make that up for the rest of their lives. >> reporter: emergency rooms in boston are seeing a spike in severely underweight children ages 5 and younger. a crucial period for brain growth and child development. these kids are more likely to get sick and fall behind in school. >> so where do i go next? >> reporter: pediatrician deborah frank runs the grow clinic and sees as many as 40 kids a week. >> some kids it's pretty obvious. you can count their ribs and their arms and legs look skinny and their heads look too big. the scary thing is even when you refeed kids and get them going again and get them physically growing that you can often find deficits in learning and behavior are all the way into high school.

>> reporter: in other cities like baltimore and minneapolis, many doctors say the number of malnourished kids have double in the last two years because of the recession. boston's grow clinic opened a pantry where doctors now write prescriptions for food. >> we thought we were going to serve 500 families a month and last month we served 7,500 families. we're handing out 75,000 bags of food every single month. >> reporter: more than 40 million people received food stamps in the summer of 2010 alone. a record high. some in congress are now talking about cuts in that and other new trigdz programs. >> sort of like something saying we are about to have a plague epidemic. they're cutting back on immunization and antibiotics to save money just as the plague is hitting. >> so, a lot have to believe that lawmakers will have to keep funding food stamps and other nutrition programs and be proactive to help children get

the right start or whether or in fact they're not and develop problems that will cost more in the long run. emergency room visits, school dropout, unemployment. all that. these doctors that we spoke to, they really said if you can get a child on the right path. we're not even talking in the mid-range. they want to get them simply in the lowest range because they've fallen so far that it will do a lot to get these kids at least push them forward. >> interestingly, it's the same on the other side when you look at children who are obese or overweight. the big question is, do you help them now or pay later? and it seems to be the case with this, as well. >> absolutely. what's so interesting about obesity and the doctor you heard there, she will see mothers with children in the emergency room and the mothers are giving the children french fries and sodas because carbohydrates and bubbles fill up the belly so they feel full.

they can't afford foods we take for granted. >> it's a quick fix. >> a quick fix, but a bad fix. >> thank you so much, deb feyerick. up next, bo derek is heading to the united nations today, but, first, she's right here in our studios. we'll talk to her, next. 38 minutes after the hour. [ hayden ] what if there was a makeup

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welcome back. 42 minutes after the hour. a big week at the united nations. new york city clogged with dignitaries and dignitaries who have had the pleasure to be joined and lobbied by bo derek. bo hopes to get these heads of state to open their countries while to protect a modern day garden of eden in a remote part of ecuador. it's a rain forest that just happens to be on a billion barrels of oil. i'm pleased to say that bo derek joins me now. she is the good will ambassador for the itt commission appointed by the president of ecuador and you'll meet with him and the

secretary-general later today at the united nations. i want to talk first, though, about this remote part of the world in the amazon. you know, more plant species and tree species and animal species than nearly any other place on earth. what is it about this place that touched your heart? you could be doing anything, why this? >> it was a girlfriend. my best friend is leading this delegation and she's from ecuador and i got her bug, her passion for this country. it's very beautiful. it has the galapagos islands. i think it's the only country in the world where nature is part of their constitution as having rights. >> it is a very tough place to get to. >> very tough place to get to. after car, helicopter, airplane, there's two tribes that live there in voluntary isolation and absolutely spectacular. what is interesting about it, as well, it is one of the few places in the world that did not

freeze in the last ice age. >> i think that's so interesting. >> i never knew there was any place that didn't freeze the last ice age. so, as a result, a lot of these animals are prehistoric. reptiles especially. >> let's talk a little bit about what else makes this place special. it is sitting on nearly a billion barrels of oil. the government stands to gain $10 billion in revenue by drilling and yet have chosen not to do it. they really set a precedent. countries are sitting up and taking notice, aren't they? >> it came from the president himself. he has been working on it himself. his passion is undeniable, but it's a developing country. they can't afford to just forego that $10 billion. so, he's asked for the world to contribute. half of the income that would normally come to ecuador. >> $3.6 billion. >> $3.6 billion over 12 years

all completely secure at the united nations development program. >> you had incredible commitments, including from one woman who decided to donate her entire salary for the year. >> they did. yeah, people who go there are truly moved and truly changed. >> let's talk about what you're going to do today. you're going to the united nations and meeting with the secretary-general along with the president of ecuador and lots of other dignitaries. you're so popular, they had to open up another room. >> no, it's not me. it's the program. once people understand it, they really become committed. secretary moon, i went in to meet with him to try to convince him how important this program was. he told me, i just nodded the whole meeting. >> what do you plan to say today in that meeting? >> i think it's a moment so that everyone can understand it. it's a reception at the united nations hosted by the secretary-general. and i think it's a show of how much the world does care about this idea and this program. and i believe it will be a pilot

program for other reserves in the rest of the world. >> you're hoping to raise $100 million by december of next year. do you know how much you raised so far? >> we're very near there. >> you're kidding me. >> at this moment it's probably the hardest time to raise money for something like this, especially nation to nation. now, we're just able, teching ini inly to open funds to the ngos and private sector. i think we'll be just fine. >> bo derek, i wish you the best of luck. if i can scoot over to united nations after the show, i will try to. great to see you, again. if you want to get involved in bo derek's cause and protect the yasuni national park in ecuador, go to yasunisupport.com.

it's 47 minutes after the hour. here are your morning headlines. u.s. markets poised for a lower open. futers for the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 all trading lower right now. this after a miserable day on wall street yesterday. the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 all lost more than 3% each yesterday. history will be made this afternoon at the united nations. in just over three hours or so, palestinian president mahmoud abbas will stand before the leaders of the world and ask for recognition as a state. a request the u.s. has pledged to veto. the united states facing the real possibility of a partial government shutdown in just seven days. the house passed a $3.7 billion disaster aid measure last night, calling for deep energy department cuts to offset the cost of helping hurricane and wildfire victims. but senate majority leader harry reid promised to kill it,

leaving the possibility of a partial government shutdown next week. what to cut in last night's gop debate. the two frontrunners mitt romney and rick perry lobbed at each other over social security and health care. "american morning" is back right after this break. what do you got? restrained driver... sir, can you hear me? just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! [ nurse ] i'm a nurse. i believe in the power of science and medicine. but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck.

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go affordably. go rving. women's boxing will make a debut as an olympic sport at the summer games in london in 2012. the remarkable young lady that

is trying to earn a gold medal. she joins us now, good morning, soledad. >> our documentary is called "latino in america in her corner." she is a young woman, 21 now. when we began the documentary is the five-time national boxing champion and she allowed us to follow her for a year with cameras to document her struggles, her efforts to try to join the olympic team for the first time are allowed to box. >> what was her biggest obstacle, if you will? >> her biggest obstacle is actually money. it's very expensive to travel to be part of these competitions. her father who works 12 hours a day, 7 days a week funds her boxing tournaments and hotel stay, food. u.s. boxing gives him a small stiven, but no one covers. most of the women who we see in boxing are, you know, poor to middle class, working class latinos and african-americans. these are not people who come

from lots of money. money is a big challenge and the support. she has been boxing since she was 11. at 16 she won her first national champions. we call the documentary "in her corner" because it's a look at who you need to support you to be successful. >> she's like 112 pounds soaking wet, right? >> she is, we all tower over her. she's this big, but she is so tough. i mean, her training regimen is ridiculous and her focus and her determination. she's someone you just want to root for even in the middle when she takes a devastating loss. >> how is she doing? is she doing okay? >> she was doing great and then things fell apart and she has a devastating loss and i think she really starts thinking about maybe not continuing for a minute. so, we follow her, her resilience and her ability to bounce back after something really bad happens in her career. >> you've done docs on

everything, but boxing is a first for you. how did it strike you? >> it's so funny. i really enjoyed it. when people get hit, i'm sort of like this, it's not a boxing documentary. it's all about boxing, but not actually about boxing. it's a documentary about what it takes to succeed and be focussed and the community around you, especially for lutinas, which is why a lutina in america documentary. my sons, however, having taken them to the guarden to watch fights are so into it. so, i box at the gym. are my arms getting buff? you know, i don't like to really hit people. >> so, you know, first, it's just now becoming a sport that -- >> it's a sport first. >> and then all the expense and sort of being, i mean, that's amazing that she just keeps pushing at it, pushing at it when she is alone. >> mexican american, first generation. imagine if marlana's face is on the box of wheaties. she says, i think people in my

community would be so proud. i also think people will start thinking a little bit differently about mexican americans in this country. she thinks, i agree with her, she could have a tremendous impact. >> it's incredible. when you bring up the wheaties box, that's something that gives you chills. >> i'm taking 10% of that, wheaties. >> she's thinking big and that's awesome to think big. >> again, it's all about who is in your corner. who supports your big dreams. t metaphor but if you want to succeed in life, i think it's a great story for everybody. >> soledad, thanks. >> thank you. >> great to see you. >> join us on sunday night for her fight to make her olympic dreams a reality, soledad o'brien latino in america in her corner airs sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. 56 minutes after the hour. now that we've announced the top ten cnn heroes of 2011.

i want to show you how to vote for cnn hero of the year. this is the main page. down here are the list of all top ten cnn heroes. each one will receive $50,000, plus a shot at becoming cnn hero of the year. that's where you come in. here's how you can vote for your favorite cnn hero. first, you can learn more by all the heroes by clicking on their fan pages. i want to show you how to do that. as an example, click on patrice to walk you through the voting process. any of the ten nominees are worthy of being cnn hero of the year. that is entirely up to you. after you look at each fan page pick the person that inspires you the most and click on vote now, which is right over here on the right. click on that and a new page comes up and it shows you all the top ten heros. choose the person who you want to vote for and i'll randomly pick taryn davis. it shows you a security code

over here. you type in that security code and you click on the red box, which is over here for vote. now, something new this year. you can vote online and on your mobile device, your laptop, your tablet, any smartphone or cell phone with a browser. just go to cnnheroes.com. you can vote up to ten times a day for your favorite hero through wednesday, december 7th. ♪ been torn apart ♪ got so many scratches and scars ♪ ♪ maybe time can mend us together again ♪ ♪ it's not what we've done but how far we've come ♪ ♪ i know that we will recover [ male announcer ] here when you need us most. ♪ i know that we will recover ♪ priceis it true thata-tor. name your own price....

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welcome back. you're looking live at columbus circle outside our studios. a lot of rain later. up and down the east coast, a lot of rain all weekend long. >> but the good news is, it's friday. at least it's friday. a rainy friday is better than a sunny monday any day. that will wrap it up for us for the week. "cnn newsroo